Staying in a new country for a long period of time can be a daunting experience for anybody. In my case, I was more excited than nervous when I first arrived. After about a week, however, I started to feel a little homesick, but I found that being as adventurous as I possibly could and seeking out other people was the best way to make myself more comfortable. 

For example, when I first arrived, one of my professors told our class about an “intercambio” option at our university. This is an arrangement where she would put us in touch with a Spanish student from our university so that we could practice our Spanish and these native students could practice their English. I ended up being paired with an adult student who had gone back to school after working for a little while. She took me under her wing and became like a second mom to me while I was there. She was an English major, and when I told her I was from Massachusetts, she was so excited to talk to me about native american and colonial literature. She showed me around the city and gave me information about all of the holidays and festivals that took place in Sevilla while I shared what living near Boston was like. 

One of the biggest differences to which I had a hard time adjusting while I was in Spain was my living environment. I was living in a “residencia,” so my host parents didn’t live in our apartment, but they came over everyday to cook lunch and dinner for us, clean our rooms, and do our laundry. During meal times, they never ate with us; they would cook by themselves, set the food down for all 16 of us, and clean up by themselves. I offered to help them clean several times, but they always turned me down. I had a hard time adjusting to this type of environment because I felt like a constant inconvenience to them. They were always doing so much for us, and I felt like I wasn’t doing anything in return. Even the people in my program that stayed in a dorm had a cleaning service that came to their room every two weeks. Obviously, this is not true in the United States. I wouldn’t even expect my own parents to cook and clean up after me. Having other Americans in my apartment that were feeling the same way made this adjustment a little easier. We all knew that we felt the same way, and although there was little that they would let us help with, knowing that there were other people there who were experiencing and feeling the same things that I was made me feel better. 

These little details can make all the difference in a new country. They may seem like obvious and insignificant pieces of information, but for me, they were elements that helped me to create a home away from home.

When we talk about language, we have a tendency to view it as an art form that belongs in the Humanities & Fine Arts category. Language studies are always considered to be completely unrelated to the sciences, but why? 

When I first arrived at UMass, I had not yet declared my major, and people would always ask me what type of track I was thinking about pursuing. Almost every new person that I met asked, “do you think you want to major in something in the humanities or in STEM?” I didn’t think that there was anything abnormal about this statement at the time, but now I have to wonder why these two fields are mutually exclusive. 

After I declared Spanish as my major, I was searching for a minor or another major to complement it. I was unsure what I wanted to do after I graduated, but I felt like an IT minor would be beneficial no matter what kind of career I ended up choosing. I thought that I would have to take a bunch of computer science classes that had nothing to do with Spanish, but I was wrong. One of the first courses that I took was a linguistics class where we analyzed language patterns with coding software. Learning about new languages in this way completely changed the way that I approached my Spanish classes. It gave me a more finite understanding of the major and it helped me to identify the patterns and attributes that exist in all languages, not just Spanish. We often assume that because languages are based on free communication, they must lack logic, but this is simply not true. Every language started from a basic set of rules, and as time has gone on, we have molded these systems to fit our specific needs, just like the evolution of technology and other scientific innovations. So, why is it that people assume that if you’re good at math, you must be terrible at writing? The best answer that I have come up with is: there is no basis for this theory. It is completely false. 

I also took an English class this semester that focused on Adobe InDesign. We spent the semester learning about different publishing techniques/practices and for our final project, we were assigned with creating a book from scratch. Again, it had never occurred to me to consider that language and technology could complement each other so well. When someone says that they work in publishing, most people would automatically assume that they read all day long. The reality behind this career is that yes, it does involve a great deal of reading, but it also requires technical skills. A book can’t be printed unless someone types, organizes, designs, and edits it first, and more often than not, you have to know how to troubleshoot in case you encounter any problems with the software. 

I think part of the reason why I still enjoy studying languages so much is because they can be both a free form of communication and an applied science. I am so glad that I decided to take classes outside of my major and the humanities and fine arts “hub”  because I have been able to form connections between different disciplines and find a wide range of career options that I am interested in. The best advice that I can give to current humanities majors is this: don’t listen to people that say that language and math/science are two different fields. They are just wrong. 

In this blog post, we aim to share our unique experiences of studying abroad in the same program, while also being placed in the same living situations. Our goal is to share about how we both ended up choosing the program (API Seville) as well as some of our highlights and advice for others considering many different programs for studying abroad. Although we both chose the same program, our day to day life in Spain looked different from each other, but we also shared a lot of the same experiences!

Carly’s Experience: 

Choosing my study abroad program was not an easy decision, in my experience. I remember spending lots of time during the summer looking through the different programs that were available for me to choose from. As a Spanish major, who can essentially study anywhere in the world that speaks mainly Spanish, there were hundreds of options. The three last choices I had narrowed down to were programs in Alicante, Madrid, and Seville. I tried writing pros and cons lists to each program, taking into consideration location, cost, residential options, etc., but they all had some pros and some cons. So how did I make my final decision to go to Seville? For starters, I liked the fact that this program was the best financial option for me. Since it was cheaper than most of the other programs, it would give me the flexibility and opportunity to spend more time traveling while I was abroad, which was super important to me. Also, the classes that I could take there all seemed interesting and pertained to the Spanish major. While I was there, I took 12 credits total, 3 of which counted solely towards graduation requirements, and the rest fulfilled Spanish requirements. I took a painting course, a teaching course, a history of wine course, and a course on Spanish gastronomy. I had a great experience with all of my classes and would highly recommend this API Seville to any Spanish major who wants to take some interesting courses while abroad. Some of my favorite parts about studying abroad in Seville were:

• Walkable, smaller city
• Lots of practice speaking Spanish with locals
• Warm weather
• I had already been to Seville and had a sense of comfort knowing a little bit about the city I would be living in
• Andalusian culture 

My week was not very busy with school, as I took all of my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I had only two days per week where I was in classes. I spent the other weekdays exploring Seville and even taking other day trips to nearby cities which were less than two hours away by train. I loved having a flexible schedule while abroad because it allowed me to spend more time exploring the city. The API Seville program did not offer any classes on Fridays which was great for students who are interested in traveling to other countries/cities on the weekends. 

I highly recommend API Seville if you want to feel like you are receiving an authentic experience and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to live in this city with such a rich culture!

Ailish’s Experience:

Before I even went on the study abroad website, I decided that my best course of action would be to set a list of goals for myself to make the research process easier. I determined that the two  most important things that I wanted to be able to accomplish while I was in Spain were: to practice my speaking skills as much as possible and to take classes that were both interesting and challenging. I narrowed down my search to two cities: Granada and Sevilla, mainly because I knew that these areas were less “touristy,” so there wouldn’t be as many people in these cities that spoke English. I knew that if I was offered the chance to speak English on a regular basis, I might have leaned into it a little too much and neglected my opportunities to speak Spanish. I decided that the best way to avoid this would be to eliminate this “safety net” all together. 

Once I looked over the course offerings for each program, I decided that API Sevilla was the best fit for me because they offered a wide range of courses that included history, cooking, teaching, literature, grammar, phonology, speaking, and art. There were so many courses that catered to all different levels/abilities, and I felt comfortable knowing that I would be able to take a mix of classes that fulfilled my upper level requirements, remained manageable, and provided me with new experiences. I ended up taking 4 classes that covered contemporary history, teaching & methodology, literature & cooking, and wine & culture. 

My favorite parts of the semester were getting to experience the festivals and events that happened in Sevilla and the trips that we took. During Holy Week, I saw a number of silent processions in the street. For la Feria de Abril, I watched thousands of people line the streets in flamenco dresses and dance in ‘casetas.’ I was able to travel to different parts of Spain with my program and on my own; I went hiking in Extremadura, stayed with a friend in Barcelona, and visited the Alhambra in Granada. There were many natives from other regions of Spain that would often ask us why we decided to study in Andalucía when their accent was “difficult to understand.”  I wasn’t accustomed to the Andalusian accent before I traveled here, but I am very grateful that I understand it better now. Being in this region made my experience more authentic and fun, and I think being exposed to a new accent was an excellent learning experience. It was a little difficult to understand some words when I first arrived, but by the end of the trip, I had no trouble with it. I was aspirating my ‘s’s by the end of the semester, and my experience with it has proved to be beneficial when talking to people with similar accents here in the U.S. 

Going abroad is all about what you make of it. The best advice that I can give to any student who is trying to decide where to go is to decide what you want to accomplish while you’re there and take advantage of every opportunity that you can, no matter how uncomfortable it may be at first!

As you can see, although we both chose the same program, each of our experiences was personal and unique to us. When choosing a study abroad program, keep in mind that you have complete control over your trip. There may be some programs that appeal to you more than others, but in the end, you design your own experience.